The politics of speed: An examination of national governments' policies for FTTX networks

The Australian Labor Government's National Broadband Network plan to fund the rollout of a fibre-to-the-premises network that will serve 93 percent of premises represents a level of government intervention towards achieving a goal of ubiquitous high-speed broadband that almost no other national government has been prepared to make. Its supporters, here and abroad, point to its national benefits and its international leadership. Its detractors, particularly the Australian Parliamentary Opposition, cite the uniqueness of the undertaking and its creation of a monopoly in fixed access infrastructure as evidence of its foolhardiness. This article examines the views of a selection of national governments on the desirability of ubiquitous high speed broadband and any plans or policies in place to achieve this. It concludes that most governments share the same goal of eventual ubiquitous high-speed broadband access for their citizens, and notes that 82 percent of investment in FTTX in 2012-17 in the world’s developed countries is estimated to be in fibre-to-the-home (FTTH). But their current policies reflect their starting points as much as their preferred time frames – and their ideologically preferred means of achieving their national goals.